Rotatable sprinkler assembly

ABSTRACT

A sprinkler head that is rotated by liquid pressure passing through the head, which sprinkler head has a tubular support inserted in a tubular base for rotational movement on a bearing positioned therebetween. The tubular base has a disc positioned therein immediately adjacent the lower end of the tubular support, which disc has a small diameter hole. The lower end of the tubular support has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tubular base and with an internal diameter that is substantially larger than the hole through the disc. The liquid passing through the tubular base is projected up and through the channel in the tubular support and is restricted from passing between the tubular support and the tubular base, thereby restricting the depositing of impurities from the liquid into the bearing. The wall of the lower end of the tubular support has impeller means that upon rotation pulls liquid through the tubular support to the sprinkler head and pulls liquid away from the bearing.

il'aite tats aient (72] Inventor James C. Roberts 1860 Jeffrey,Escondido, Calif. 92025 [2!) App]. No. 14,959 (22] Filed Feb. 27, 1970[45] Patented Aug. 10, 1971 54] ROTATABLE SiRlNKLER ASSEMBLY 9 Claims, 3Drawing Figs.

{52] US. CL 239/251, 239/225, 239/489 [5 3} lot. Cl 1305b 3/06 {50]Field at Search 239/251, 261, 262,487, 489, 225

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 629,338 7/1899 Chelimsky239/487 X 1,118,1[8 11/1914 Fischer.... 239/489 X 1,853,805 4/!932 Elder239/487 X 3,042,318 7/1962 Chow etal 239/251 X Primary Examiner-M.Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Thomas C. Culp, Jr.

Attorneys-Carl R. Brown, Stephen L. King and Kenneth W Mateer ABSTRACT:A sprinkler head that is rotated by liquid pressure passing through thehead, which sprinkler head has a tubular support inserted in a tubularbase for rotational movement on a bearing positioned therebetween. Thetubular base has a disc positioned therein immediately adjacent thelower end of the tubular support, which disc has a small diameter hole.The lower end of the tubular support has an outer diameter slightlysmaller than the inner diameter of the tubular base and with an internaldiameter that is substantially larger than the hole through the disc.The liquid passing through the tubular base is projected up and throughthe channel in the tubular support and is restricted from passingbetween the tubular support and the tubular base, thereby restrictingthe depositingpf impurities from the liquid into the bearing. The wallof the lower end of the tubular support has impeller means that uponrotation pulls liquid through the tubular support to the sprinkler headand pulls liquid away from the bearing.

PATENTEU we I 0 \sn INVENTOR. JAMES c. ROBERTS ZZu/fi $411M vvvgmgi Fig.3

ATTORNEY ROTATABLE SPRINKLER ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thereare many known types of sprinkler units that have swiveling sprinklerheads driven by the water flow passing therethrough. In certain types ofthese sprinkler units, the sprinkler heads are connected to a tubularsupport. The tubular support rotatably fits into a tubular base, thatmay be a threaded coupling, nipple, tee coupling or the like. Thetubular support and the tubular base have adjacent radial shoulders witha bearing therebetween. When water under pressure passes through thetubular base and the tubular support and passes out the sprinkler, itforces the adjacent shoulders against the bearing. This supports thesprinkler head in its rotational movement.

In the operation of these known sprinkler units, the water also flowsdirectly between the tubular support and the tubular base and to thebearing surface. Thus the bearing also functions as a seal to preventwater flow through this space. This water flow also functions tolubricate the bearing.

As is often the case, water passing through sprinkler units inirrigation projects and the like carries large quantities of salts anddirt in solution with the water. This dirty water deposits dirt andsalts in the bearings, that cause the hearings to rapidly wear out. Thusit is necessary to continuously inspect the sprinkler heads for dirty orworn out bearings and replace the bearings when necessary.

It is therefore advantageous to have a rotatable sprinkler assemblywherein the dirt and salts are continuously drawn from the wateradjacent the bearing surface and that draws water through the tubularsupport from the tubular base to restrict the amount ofwater flow to thebearings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In an exemplary embodiment of this invention, asprinkler assembly having a sprinkler head with outwardly projectingarms, is rotated by water passing through the nozzles. The sprinklerhead is secured to a tubular support that rotatably fits into a tubularbase. The tubular support and sprinkler head are held in the base by athreaded collar or the like. A bearing fits between a radial shoulder onthe tubular support and a shoulder on the base or collar. The tubularsupport has a lower end that receives the water and directs it to thesprinkler head. The tubular base has a disc that is normallypress-fitted therein. The disc has a small hole that directs water orfluid into the open lower end of the tubular support and away from theouter space between the tubular support and the tubular base. Thus whilethe hearing has fluid for lubrication, the flow thereto is reducedthereby reducing the dirt and salts that are deposited in the bearing.

The lower end of the tubular support has inner and outer surfaces withwater impeller means. The water impeller means on the outer surfacecomprises a wide, spaced, deep spiral thread that functions in operationto pull the fluid, dirt and salts downwardly and away from the bearing.The inner surface of the tubular support has a similar wide, spacedspiral thread that functions to pull the water flow upward from the holein the disk into the sprinkler head.

Thus the cooperation of the disc hole directing the water flow and thewater impeller means, effectively holds to a minimum the accumulation ofsalts, dirt and the like in the bearing, while providing the fluid orwater to the bearing surfaces as necessary for lubrication.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of thesprinkler head assembly.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1,illustrating the head mounted in a nipple and tee combination.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the sprinkler head mounted in a modifiedtee coupling.

Referring to the drawings, a rotatable sprinkler assembly 10 has arotatable sprinkler head with radially outwardly directed arms 12 havingscrew-on ends 14 with discharge openings 16. A central portion 18threadably engages the upper end of a tubular support 26 that fitsinside the nipple 22 of the tubular base 23. The tubular base 23 alsoincludes a collar 20 with internal and external threads 30 and 28. Thenipple 22 threadedly engages the inner threads 30 of the collar 20 atits upper end and engages internal threads 50 of tee coupling 46 that,for example, is secured into a line carrying water or other liquidsunder pressure.

The lower end of the tubular support 38 has an enlarged internal space42 with an outer circumference 40 that is only slightly smaller than theinner diameter of the nipple 22. The space 42 communicates with channel27 that carries the liquid or water to the sprinkler head 18. Thetubular support 26 and the collar 20 have adjacent axially positioned,circumferential shoulders 32 and 34 providing a bearing space in whichbearings rings 36 are positioned. The bearing rings may be made of anysuitable material such as metal or plastic and also provide a sealagainst the passage of water therethrough from the water carryingconduit 46 through the space 56 between the outer surface of the tubularsupport and the inner surface of the nipple 22 to the outer environment.

The wall of the lower end of the tubular support 26 has impeller meansfor pulling liquid in space 56 downwardly and liquid in volume 42upwardly. The impeller means comprises wide spaced spiral ridges orgrooves 44 on the inner wall. These impeller threads are spiralled inopposite directions with, for example, the outside threads 25 beingleft-hand threads and the inside threads 44 being right-hand threads.The impeller threads 25 and 44 may have about 3% to four threads to theinch and the threads may have double starts.

A disc 52 may be slidably positioned in the nipple 22 and held inposition by a friction fit or it may be constructed integral with theinner surface ofthe nipple 22. The disc 52 has a small hole 54therethrough that directs the liquid flow from space 61 directly intospace 42 and away from the space 56.

It may be understood that whe I water pressure passes through thesprinkler head, the force of the liquid passing out of nozzles 16 notonly forms the sprinkler spray but also rapidly rotates the sprinklerhead and the tubular support 26 within the tubular base 23. The force ofthe water passing through sprinkler head moves the tubular support 26upwardly and rotates it on the bearing surfaces of bearing 36. In thisrapid rotational movement, the impeller threads 25 and 44 rotate anddraws liquid into the space 42 and channel 27. The hole 54 functions tolimit the movement of the liquid to a direct path that is well withinthe internal diameter of space 42. The close spacing between the endsand the sides 40 of the tubular support 26 and the inner surface ofnipple 22 further restricts movement of liquid into the space 56 and tothe bearings 36. The outer threads 25 moves the liquid downwardly in amanner that dirt, salts and other impurities in the liquid or water arecontinuously drawn from space 56.

OPERATION OF THE FIRST EMBODIMENT In operation of the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2, the sprinkler head 18 is threadably engaged tothe tubular support 26 and the tubular support 26 is positioned in thetubular base 23 by threaded collar 20. The disc 52 is slidably movedinto the tubular base 22 and by adjustment of the coupling 20, the lowerend of the tubular support is positioned immediately adjacent to thedisc 52. There is sufficient space therebetween to not have physicalcontact creating frictional restriction of rotational movement of thetubular support.

Water under pressure is then passed through the tee coupling 46 and thewater or liquid passes through opening 54 into the space 42 and throughchannel 27 and out the sprinkler head 18. The movement of the water outnozzles 16 rotates the sprinkler head 18 at a very rapid speed. Theimpeller means tends to pull the water passing through opening 54 intospace 42 and to force the water through the channel 27. This is inaddition to the normal movement of the water into and through channel27.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the tee coupling 47 in this embodiment has anintegral upright tubular base member 63 with threads 67 that threadablyengage coupling 21.

This provides a more simplified tubular base for supporting the tubularsupport 26. The disc 52 may be made integral with the tee coupling 47 orthe disc 52 may be slidably positioned therein as previously describedrelative to FIG. 2. The embodiment of FIG. 3 operates in substantiallythe same manner as the embodiment of FIG. 2.

Having described my invention, I now claim:

l. A rotatable sprinkler assembly comprising,

a tubular base with a hollow passage having a given diameter,

a tubular support having an upper and lower end for being positioned inthe hollow passage of the tubular base for rotational movement therein,

the tubular support has means at the upper end for carrying a sprinklerhead that rotates the tubular support and the sprinkler head uponreceiving liquid under pressure through the tubular base,

a bearing positioned between the tubular base and the tubular support ata point spaced from the lower end of the tubular support,

disc means for being positioned in the hollow passage of the tubularbase having a hole therethrough with a diameter substantially smallerthan said given diameter,

the lower end of the tubular support being slightly spaced from the discmeans and having an outside diameter slightly smaller than said givendiameter and substantially support and the tubular base. 3. A rotatablesprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 2 in which,

said impeller means includes second spiral grooves on the inside of saidwall that are spiralled to pull liquid upwardly and into the sprinklerhead.

4. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which,

said grooves of said first and second spiral grooves having wide spacedsides. 5. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which,

the outer diameter of said first spiral grooves is slightly smaller thanthe inner diameter of said tubular base. 6. A rotatable sprinklerassembly as claimed in claim 3 in which,

which,

said disc means comprises a disc that is frictionally held in saidtubular base.

8. In a rotatable sprinkler assembly,

means for carrying a spinkler head including a tubular support having anupper and lower end,

rneans for securing a sprinkler head on said upper end, and impellermeans on the inner and outer surfaces of the lower end wall of saidtubular support for pulling liquid through the tubular support to thesprinkler head and forcing liquid in the opposite direction down theoutside surface of the lower end of said tubular support upon rotationof said tubular support.

9. in a rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 8 in which,

said impeller means includes first "piral grooves on the outside of saidwall and second grooves on the inside of said wall, which grooves arespiralled in opposite directions.

1. A rotatable sprinkler assembly comprising, a tubular base with ahollow passage having a given diameter, a tubular support having anupper and lower end for being positioned in the hollow passage of thetubular base for rotational movement therein, the tubular support hasmeans at the upper end for carrying a sprinkler head that rotates thetubular support and the sprinkler head upon receiving liquid underpressure through the tubular base, a bearing positioned between thetubular base and the tubular support at a point spaced from the lowerend of the tubular support, disc means for being positioned in thehollow passage of the tubular base having a hole therethrough with adiameter substantially smaller than said given diameter, the lower endof the tubular support being slightly spaced from the disc means andhaving an outside diameter slightly smaller than said given diameter andsubstantially larger than the hole through the disc means, and impellermeans on the inner and outer surfaces of the lower end wall of saidtubular support for pulling liquid through the tubular support to thesprinkler head and forcing liquid away from said bearing upon rotationof the tubular support.
 2. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed inclaim 1 in which, said impeller means includes first spiral grooves onthe outside of said wall that are spiralled to pull liquid downwardlyand out of the space between the tubular support and the tubular base.3. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 2 in which, saidimpeller means includes second spiral grooves on the inside of said wallthat are spiralled to pull liquid upwardly and intO the sprinkler head.4. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which, saidgrooves of said first and second spiral grooves having wide spacedsides.
 5. A rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 3 in which,the outer diameter of said first spiral grooves is slightly smaller thanthe inner diameter of said tubular base.
 6. A rotatable sprinklerassembly as claimed in claim 3 in which, said tubular base comprises anipple type tube with a collar threaded to its upper end, said tubularsupport having a radial shoulder, the lower end surface of said collarabutting said radial shoulder, and bearing means for fitting betweensaid lower end surface of said collar and said radial shoulder.
 7. Arotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which, said discmeans comprises a disc that is frictionally held in said tubular base.8. In a rotatable sprinkler assembly, means for carrying a sprinklerhead including a tubular support having an upper and lower end, meansfor securing a sprinkler head on said upper end, and impeller means onthe inner and outer surfaces of the lower end wall of said tubularsupport for pulling liquid through the tubular support to the sprinklerhead and forcing liquid in the opposite direction down the outsidesurface of the lower end of said tubular support upon rotation of saidtubular support.
 9. In a rotatable sprinkler assembly as claimed inclaim 8 in which, said impeller means includes first spiral grooves onthe outside of said wall and second spiral grooves on the inside of saidwall, which grooves are spiralled in opposite directions.